Current health expenditure (% of GDP) (Global Health) in Malawi
Malawi: Current health expenditure (% of GDP) (Global Health) was 6.5% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Current health expenditure in Malawi, 2000–2023
Source: Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
In 2023, current health expenditure in Malawi stood at 6.5%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.4% on the previous year and down 20.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, current health expenditure in Malawi peaked at 8.2% in 2013 and was at its lowest, 2.1%, in 2001.
Malawi ranks 96th of 193 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Current health expenditure (% of GDP) (Global Health) in Malawi, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 2.4% | — |
| 2001 | 2.1% | -12.4% |
| 2002 | 2.7% | +30.9% |
| 2003 | 3.3% | +23.1% |
| 2004 | 4.1% | +22.6% |
| 2005 | 4.3% | +5.6% |
| 2006 | 4.9% | +14.2% |
| 2007 | 5.4% | +10.8% |
| 2008 | 6.1% | +12.2% |
| 2009 | 5.9% | -3.8% |
| 2010 | 5.1% | -12.4% |
| 2011 | 5.3% | +3.5% |
| 2012 | 6.0% | +13.1% |
| 2013 | 8.2% | +36.6% |
| 2014 | 6.9% | -16.1% |
| 2015 | 6.6% | -3.9% |
| 2016 | 7.7% | +16.6% |
| 2017 | 7.6% | -1.8% |
| 2018 | 6.9% | -9.3% |
| 2019 | 6.4% | -7.4% |
| 2020 | 7.0% | +10.5% |
| 2021 | 7.5% | +6.8% |
| 2022 | 6.6% | -11.9% |
| 2023 | 6.5% | -1.4% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 6.5% is above the median for low income countries, which is 4.9%, 1.3× the median. (24 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 6.5% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 4.4%, 1.5× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.1% | 2.1% | 6.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.7% | 5.1% | 8.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.9% | 6.5% | 7.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More health data for Malawi
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -0.8368 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.9312 % change on previous year (2090)
- Un projection of annual infant deaths 6,399 (2100)
- Neonatal tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 2 (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, annual growth rate 1.61 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, female, per capita 0.0714 units per person (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, annual growth rate 1.63 % change on previous year (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male, per capita 0.0718 units per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is current health expenditure in Malawi?
- Current health expenditure in Malawi was 6.5% in 2023, according to Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO).
- What is the highest current health expenditure recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 8.2% in 2013.
- What is the lowest current health expenditure recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.1% in 2001.
- How does Malawi rank for current health expenditure?
- Malawi ranks 96th out of 193 countries with data for 2023.
- Is current health expenditure rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from Global Health Expenditure Database, updated December 12th, 2025, World Health Organization (WHO), published as part of Current health expenditure (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Level of current health expenditure expressed as a percentage of GDP. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year. This indicator does not include capital health expenditures such as buildings, machinery, IT and stocks of vaccines for emergency or outbreaks.